"An Emperor?!" Inside the stone chamber, everyone except Atum showed expressions of extreme shock. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Bai Cheng's silver eyes suddenly contracted, the lightning in Blue Bird's hands crackled subconsciously, Zi Yuan tightened her grip on her hilt, the cold air around Leng Ningxue stalled slightly, and Yu Nian let out a soft cry, covering her mouth.

This speculation was like a thunderclap exploding in their minds.

All their previous doubts—why such vast and diverse special laws were needed? Why conduct a so-called Ascension Ceremony and Realm Fusion?

Why were they themselves viewed as special keys and fuel?

In this moment, it seemed a terrifying yet incredibly logical explanation had been found.

It wasn't to rule a sea or create some divine artifact, but to strike at that supreme realm that had long since become a legend!

Atum looked at their shocked expressions and added with a bitter smile, his tone filled with disbelief and awe of the unknown:

"I know how crazy this sounds.

The Emperor Realm... in existing records and legends, this vast domain hasn't seen one born in over a thousand years.

Even... no one can be sure if that path still exists, or if that realm can truly still be reached.

It has long since become a mystery, a symbol.

The Leader... he is actually trying to crack this puzzle, and doing so through this... method of plundering and sacrifice."

Bai Cheng was the first to recover from the shock, her gaze becoming incredibly sharp and profound.

She spoke slowly, her voice carrying a weight that saw through the essence of the matter:

"No, Atum, your speculation... is very likely true.

Only striking for the Emperor Realm—a realm so nearly impossible it requires unimaginable resources—could explain why he needs to scavenge so many top-tier laws of such differing natures,

and even goes as far as targeting people like us who possess special potential or destiny.

What he wants isn't a simple stacking of power, but an essential transformation and leap."

Blue Bird and the others looked at each other, seeing both realization and solemnity in each other's eyes.

They originally thought they were fighting a powerful opportunist, but now they found they might be stopping a mad Ascension Ceremony attempting to touch the taboo and potentially trigger unknown cataclysmic changes.

The enemy's true face and ambition were far more terrifying and far-reaching than imagined.

They were now fully convinced of Atum's speculation.

The journey ahead would no longer be just about escape or counterattack, but a struggle concerning a higher level of destiny—stopping an existence from striking at the realm of myth at the cost of billions of lives.

The rest in the desert became a brief moment of tranquility in the eye of the storm, and the final preparation before facing an even greater storm.

Atum's low voice echoed between the stone walls, carrying the rigorous deduction of a former scholar and the clarity of one who had been disillusioned, analyzing the potential real path hidden beneath the Leader's mad blueprint point by point:

"The Emperor Realm is no longer something that can be touched by mere accumulation of energy or mastery of laws.

There are obscure records in ancient fragments stating that it requires 'Ten thousand laws returning to the source, becoming a universe unto oneself'.

Over these years, the Leader has spared no expense to collect all kinds of top-tier laws like emotions, ley lines, stars, and time, precisely attempting to use these laws as bricks to forcibly construct a miniature yet complete law universe within his body or at some anchor point, using it as the foundation for his breakthrough."

He paused, looking at the increasingly solemn Bai Cheng and the others, and continued:

"But this method... the risks and difficulty are beyond imagination.

The conflict between different laws, the balance of fusion, the stability of the construct... every step is like walking on thin ice, and it requires astronomical amounts of energy and catalysts to drive.

We, along with the other scavenged living beings and even the modified environments, are perhaps all part of this catalyst."

"Is there... any other possible path?" Blue Bird asked in a deep voice, the lightning arcs on her fingertips dancing restlessly.

Atum was silent for a moment, a complex light flashing in his pure gold pupils, as if touching upon a taboo he had once glimpsed by chance but instinctively didn't want to think deeply about.

"...Perhaps there is." He spoke slowly, lowering his voice even further. "A theoretical'shortcut,' but one that is also strictly controlled and perhaps even more taboo—the Power of Faith."

"Faith?" Zi Yuan frowned.

"Yes. A special energy formed by the convergence of collective living will and prayer.

It is formless and substanceless, yet it can bind to specific symbols or existences, providing a continuous supply and even... catalyzing essential transformation."

Atum explained, "In some fringe research of the King-rank system, there are scattered hypotheses mentioning that a sufficiently vast, pure, and directional torrent of faith

might serve as a catalyst or stabilizer for striking at higher realms, used to harmonize the conflicts between different laws or fill the nearly infinite energy gap when constructing a law universe."

He looked at Bai Cheng with meaningful intent:

"The Enforcement Officer you encountered have a rigorous system and an extremely strong desire for control, especially emphasizing order and obedience.

According to scattered information I accidentally intercepted in my early years before being fully brainwashed, as well as details observed while forced to carry out missions later.

The Enforcement Officer system spares no effort to promote unified dogma in many areas it controls, purging dissenting faiths and forcing the construction of numerous uniform statues dedicated to some vague supreme order or the Eye of Enforcement... such behavior would be far too persistent and extravagant if it were merely for mental control."

Taurus's words were like stones thrown into a quiet lake, stirring up ripples in Bai Cheng's heart.

The various actions of the Enforcement Officer—the strict hierarchy, the fanatical obedience, the zero tolerance for dissent, and especially those ubiquitous, cold, and eerie statues... all these fragments began to piece together into a bone-chilling picture under the possible motive of 'faith collection'.

Her silver eyes narrowed slightly as she deduced rapidly in her mind. Combining past encounters, the abnormal energy flows Blue Bird had sensed, and Atum's current deduction, a startling possibility emerged, making her heart sink.

"Within the entire Enforcement Officer system... it is very likely that an Emperor-level powerhouse truly exists, or at least, an existence is attempting to use this method to strike for the Emperor Realm."

Bai Cheng's voice was calm but carried an ironclad force.

"Their construction of statues and promotion of dogma has the fundamental goal of systematically collecting, purifying, and transmitting the Power of Faith to serve their highest controller. This is their core interest, a forbidden domain that no outsider is allowed to touch."

Everyone gasped.

What did this mean?

It meant that their previous conflicts with the Enforcement Officer were perhaps just the tip of the iceberg.

If it was truly as speculated, then constructing statues belonging to Bai Cheng or their group and collecting the Power of Faith was no different from openly snatching the food of that potential Emperor or quasi-Emperor; it was an act of completely flipping the table."